How do we experience resurrection in our earthly life? We often think of our eternal life beginning when our mortal life ends. But Paul’s words in Romans 6 call us to walk in newness of life now. How do we do that?

We might begin with Paul’s words in verse 9: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” Christ now lives free of death; death has no authority over him, or over us. In a later verse in this chapter, Paul will urge his readers not to let sin have dominion over their mortal bodies.

Dominion is often translated as “lordship” or “sovereignty.” Its root is the word from which we get domestic, the word for home and family life. So Paul asks us who rules our home. That’s a great question, and it extends beyond sin and righteousness, though those are important distinctions. Paul would likely take it further than that, to urge us not to be ruled by fear, but by trust; not by scarcity but by generosity; to live as members of our community, not in a walled-off fortress protecting us from the contagion of otherness.

Paul believes that God made us for freedom. Though doubt and fear will find their way into our hearts, as we grow more experienced in living out our faith, we can have confidence that sin has no dominion over our house. Having died with Christ to sin, we have also been raised with him and can walk in the newness of our resurrected life with joy.